Her One Good Thing
by OatmealMistress
Summary: She can't help but feel something tugging. This sensation too, feels like home. Beca doesn't want to ever do something to make it end. She walks away from DJ Khaled's offer, unwillingly to abandon the Bella's, unwilling to abandon Chloe. OR Bechloe fluff, angst, and the Cups song duet we all know we wanted, taking place in a hotel room.


Beca walks at a pace not much slower than the rate at which her heart is pounding. The sound of her heels hitting the hallways reflective tile floor echo throughout the increasing space between her and the room she just left. She refuses to even entertain the idea of looking back at what she is sure are the shocked faces of Theo and DJ Kahled—or…apparently _Billy_? " _God, why are important and successful people always so weird?_ " Beca lets out a breathy huff with the thought. Exasperation leaks out of her tiny body, more so than usual, making her broody aura just a bit more intense. She's sure they think she's crazy, because how could anyone turn down such an offer given to them by _the_ DJ Kahled, famous DJ, record producer and label executive. The great _Billy_ himself? Beca falters a bit in her step. _"Am I being…?"_ She slows to a stop, the hallway becoming eerily silent in the absence of her steps forward. More thoughts begin rising in her head, doused in the waves of uncertainty rolling through her mind. "Ugh!" She groans aloud, as she shakes her head in a poor attempt to rid herself of the storm in her head.

"No Beca," she mumbles to herself as she continues her trek down the hall, "Just…no."

* * *

Beca makes her way through the hotel and up the elevator, until she finds herself walking down the hallway she's been sharing with the Bella's. The floor here is covered in dark carpet and appears well kept, but Beca is sure if one is really looking they could make out the darker spots with causes she would prefer to remain unknown. Still, the hotel is nice, and they thankfully aren't stuck having to fit nine girls into just _one_ room again. Beca shudders at the memories of waking up with Jessica's foot shoved in her face. Even worse, the time she woke up screaming "Snake" and yanking the covers off the bed just to find Lily staring at her blankly, Beca's big toe fit snugly in her mouth. Then there was that _one time_ …with Chloe. A blush begins creeping its way up Beca's face at that specific memory. "Ugh, God," Beca shakes her head hard for the second time in what she considers to be way too short of a time span, "What is up with my head today?" Swallowing thickly and forcing heated air out her nose, she makes her way to the door of the room she has been sharing with Chloe.

As soon as she opens the door she is hit with the smell of citrus and cinnamon. Really, Chloe's most beloved body spray is called Cinnamon Citrus. In her mind Beca thinks the combination odd, imagining sticks of cinnamon floating in a glass of orange juice. A concoction that sounds disgustingly sweet and bright to Beca. Yet, on Chloe it is palatable. She smiles softly, wallowing in the fragrance that her body instantly recognizes as home. The thought of Chloe reapplying the scent for a _certain_ military hunk rises, along with an increasingly familiar heat of jealously between her ears. Beca forces the thought and feeling down, an action she has repeated multiple times since first landing on the military base. _"So not needed now,"_ she thinks to herself whilst kicking off her heels by the door.

There are two full sized beds in the room. Beca makes her way to the one furthest into the room and closest to the window. She flings herself backwards on the mattress, letting herself sink in as far as she can go. Her eyes close and for a few moments she feels utterly relaxed atop the plush hotel comforter, the dark serenity behind her eyelids, and the sweet and recognizable air she breathes in.

Of course, this moment of peace is interrupted by a sudden vibration in her right back pocket. "Fucking, technology," Beca grumbles and puts in the most minimal amount of squirming to remove her phone from her pants. She brings her phone above her face with her hand and see's that it is a new update from the Bella group chat. Unlocking her phone, she sees the message and the picture attached. It is a message from Stacie that reads, "Here with baby Bella and rooting for all you Bella's!" A picture of Stacie holding the brown-haired infant against her cheek, snug in her arms, falls below the message. Beca can do nothing to stop the smile that spreads across her face at the sight of Stacie and her little girl. A new message pops up from Ashley, _'Too frikin adorable Stace!'_ Followed soon by another from Aubrey, _'Thanks Stacie 3! Bella looks so beautiful! Just like her mommy!'_.

Beca lifts her other arm out of its hibernating state at her side and attempts to type out her own message, but instead finds her thumbs trembling. She rereads Stacies message. Zeroes in on how Stacie is rooting for _all_ of them, not just one, not just Beca. She thinks back to less than fifteen minutes ago when she stood alone before DJ Kahled. She thinks back to her moment of hesitation in the hallway and feels guilt churning in her gut. The uncertainty makes its way back to the forefront of her mind like storm clouds and suddenly the phone in her hands seems to weigh a ton. She only makes out the first few words of a message just sent by Cynthia Rose, before she tosses her phone away from her with a loud sigh.

Beca covers her eyes with her hands and rubs slow heavy circles around her eye, before slowly dragging her fingers down the sides of her face. Her hands cup her cheeks as she stares up at the white ceiling above her. While the view in front of her in blank, in her mind all she can see is the faces of the girls who have become her family over the years. She hears Cynthia Rose's laugh, feels Fat Amy's incredibly rough, but somehow still affectionate touches, she sees the sparkling blue of Chloe's eyes. Thinks of the banter between them. Remembers the jokes—many of which have been directed at Beca's height—and swears she can _feel_ the love in her bones, but maybe that is just the sensation of her phone vibrating constantly on her bed right now. _"I'd never leave you guys behind. I promise,"_ Beca thinks with as much steel as one could muster up for a thought.

With that, Beca flings herself into an upright position and moves to grab her laptop and wireless headphones off the nightstand between the two beds in the room. "Screw the competition and Theo and DJ _Billy_ ," Beca says under her breath as she opens up her laptop to clear her mind of everything. Her hands move through the familiar motion of placing her headphones over her head, and the sensation of the ear pads against her ears is also one that makes Beca feel like she is at home. With a new smile on her face, a mind set on unwinding, and a few clicks, Beca opens up iTunes and starts playing her "My Mixes" playlist. She sits on the edge of her bed facing the window with closed eyes and a rhythmic sway to her head.

Of course, this blissful moment was ruined approximately seven minutes later when the first few notes of a certain mix came on. It wasn't that this mix was _bad_ or _unenjoyable_ , actually quite the opposite. This mix was amazing. This mix was something that Beca spent _a week_ of late nights on, in the studio at her workplace. Hours of layering and mashing beats and vocals, hours of tweaking to assure ever pitch was perfection. She is a _Producer_ and she produced something amazing, something _ACA-fucking_ amazing, not that she'd ever describe it that way to anyone outside her family of awesome nerds. Still that little guy, little _shit_ , had the nerve to call her mix _trash_? The worst part is he isn't the first one to give her their _false_ opinion on her mixes. Beca loves making music, she does, she really truly does, but— "FUCK I _hated_ that job!" Beca groans loudly into her hands, before jabbing her finger at the laptops spacebar to silence her amazing mix.

The negative memories of her job resurfacing in her mind, drag her memory of the offer just made to her along with them. Beca loves the Bella's and she _means_ that silent promise towards the ceiling with every fiber of her five feet and one inch body, but she can't pretend that the offer still isn't appealing. Beca knows this opportunity is huge. She knows the creative freedom she would be allowed in her new career would be miles above her old job. Still, the idea of leaving the Bella's behind and performing without them tears her apart. After all, she would never be where she is without them.

Beca thinks back seven years, to when she first came to Barden University. Unmotivated, unwilling, and with an aura even more broody than the one she carries now. She thinks about the hard time she gave her father back, and how far their relationship has come since. She silently thanks him for pushing her so hard to just leave her room. She remembers how ridiculous, but endearing Fat Amy was since the moment she met her in front of what she mistakenly thought was a booth for a DJ club. Walking across the green back to her room after signing up for the college radio station, Beca never had any intention of stopping. She'd already coldly ignored multiple students trying to get her attention by shouting and shoving fliers in her face, but then there was Chloe. Chloe who's twinkling blue eyes managed to melt just enough of Beca's cold exterior to stop her in her tracts, reel her in, get her to simply _listen_. Then there was Chloe again, in her shower…naked. Heat rises to Beca's cheeks at the memory, but the warmth on her face is nothing compared to warmth she felt singing with Chloe back then. It was like layers of ice were melting off her heart and dripping down the drain next to their bare feet.

Beca likes to pretend that it wasn't the connection she felt to Chloe in that moment that drew her to auditions, but she knows it was. Without Chloe, she'd probably be broke and friendless in LA. Now she's broke in Brooklyn…and technically unemployed, but she has friends! She has Chloe, the girl who not too long-ago was sitting at a bar, _crying_ , because she wanted to be with the Bella's more than anything. Now here Beca was, toying with the idea of _leaving_ the Bella's behind. She couldn't possibly be a worse friend.

Beca swings her feet back and forth against the side of the bed, and glances around the room, trying to get a bit of her mind off of all the self-loathing she's been doing within the past hour. Her eyes glance down at a rumpled sleeping shirt on the floor by her feet she told herself she'd pick up a day ago and up at the blue sky through the rooms window, then to the two folded up towels on a table by the door that look like swans kissing. Finally, her eyes land on a small plastic cup sitting on the nightstand between the bed that Chloe had been drinking out of the night before. The sight puts a small smile on Beca's face. She gently closes her computer and stretches across the bed to grab the cup, before returning to sit back on the edge of her bed. She turns the cup in her hand, rubbing her thumb along the ridges circling the cup and trying her hardest not to think about how absolutely weird she is being by staring at this cup so longingly.

She knows why Chloe brought that blue cup with her to the Bella's reunion. Chloe has never held back from letting Beca know she loves the music she has created, and the cups song is something Chloe loves. There have been multiple occasions over the years where Chloe has tried to get Beca to perform the cups song for her again. Something that she has always declined, only ever feeling total embarrassment when thinking back to her impromptu audition in her freshman year. The closest she has come to doing it again was in her senior year at Aubrey's camp, and well how could she resist joining in when Chloe's voice was both melting and reeling in her heart at the same time? Chloe isn't even here now, but still Beca can't help but feel something tugging. That same feeling from the shower, and at auditions, in the tent, during the campfire, hiding from Theo, and all the in between moments at Barden and in Brooklyn. This sensation too, feels like home. Beca doesn't want to ever do something to make it end.

"I got my ticket for the long way 'round," Beca begins to sing softly to the cup in her hands, bobbing her head along to the familiar tune. "Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way," she continues to sing, and while she is staring at the bright red plastic in her hands, the red she is imagining it a completely different shade. "And I sure would like some sweet company, And I'm leaving…tomorrow," Images of the Bella's looking broken over Beca taking the offer spill into her imagination. Chloe is there in the front, the same twinkling eyes that drew her in at the activities fair are dripping tears. Wetness begins pooling in Beca's own eyes. Her hands tighten around the cup, creating uneven noisy folds where her finger tips press in. "Wha-do-ya-say?" Beca asks aloud the question ending the first verse. Of course, not expecting an actual answer, but this past hour hasn't gone exactly as expected for Beca to begin with.

* * *

Beca loves her headphones, she loves them because they're wireless, play both the highs and lows of her beats beautifully, and have amazing active noise cancellation that can drown out Amy's loud singing in the shower even without music playing. So of course, Beca didn't hear the red head opening the door behind her. Nor did Beca see her eyes and grin both widening to a hypnotizing size as her ears heard the lyrics flowing from the girl sitting on the edge of her bed, completely unaware she was being watched. Beca surely didn't hear the slow approaching footsteps behind her, and she wasn't in the slightest bit aware of the woman gently placing her hands on the soft bed and slowly leaning towards her. So of course, when Chloe placed her head just inches behind the brunette and sang out the next lyric, "When I'm gone," Beca nearly had a heart attack.

"DUDE!?" Beca shouts in the middle of literally flinging herself off the bed to the floor below. She barely manages to get her hands out to catch herself before her head slams too hard against the floor, headphones flung off mid-flight, the cup jetted off to a corner somewhere, and the sleeping shirt lying close by as unceremonial as its owner. Beca looks up at the bed from her position on the floor to see Chloe's big blue eyes staring down at her, with an upset furrow in her brows.

"Why'd you stop singing?" Chloe says, almost pouting. Beca scoffs.

"Dude, there is a literal chance I've been concussed and _that_ is what you care about?" Beca asks in exasperation. Chloe reaches out a hand for Beca to take and rolls her eyes.

"Oh please. We both know you've been through much worse." Images of a militant Aubrey and Lily cutting Beca down from a bear trap spring up in both of their minds as Beca takes Chloe's hand, pulling herself into an upright position. She picks up the headphones lying next to her, checking for damage, before tossing them gently on the bed.

"Right. Never ever going camping again," she says while rubbing the back of her head and standing up to go sit on the bed next to a guilty looking Chloe who looks at the spot Beca hit her head with genuine concern. Beca sighs and intercepts what she feels to be an unnecessary apology. "My head is _fine_ Chloe."

"I'm still sorry. I just couldn't help myself when I heard you singing _that_ song," Chloe says with raised sheepish shoulders. Beca huffs out a laugh, trying not to stare at the way Chloe nervously bites her lower lip.

"Yeah, I guess I should be used to you invading all my personal boundaries over a _song_ by now," Beca replies in her usual sarcastic tone. She expects Chloe to smile at the obvious reference to their shower duet, but instead her shoulders drop as she stares at Beca. The little crease of a scar on Chloe's forehead deepens from the furrowing of her brows, the sight putting a frown on Beca's own face. "Chlo, I told you my head is _fine_ ," Beca says, making sure to put extra emphasis on "fine". She shakes her head from side to side. "Nothing rattling inside. Nothing to worry about." Beca even throws on a big grin to try to wipe the sad look off of Chloe's face. It doesn't work.

"You were crying," Chloe states. _"Oh shit,"_ Beca thinks. If there is one thing Beca hates more than crying, it is other people _knowing_ she has cried. It isn't that she doesn't trust Chloe enough to cry in front of her. Truthfully, she has cried a handful of times in front of Chloe over the years. After graduation and before the Brooklyn apartment arrangement was made, when she didn't know when she'd see her best friend next. When her and Jesse broke up, and when she found out how fast he moved on. The time Chloe somehow talked her into watching a compilation of sad Disney movie scenes on YouTube in their bed, and when Beca made her promise to take the fact that _the_ Beca Mitchell cried over _Bambi_ with her to the grave. It is just that she doesn't like people worrying over her, especially not Chloe. Beyond that, she totally isn't interested in explaining to Chloe that she was literally crying over a plastic cup while thinking of her, and that she has spent the past hour drowning from the guilt of just her _thoughts_.

"I, uh—."

"And don't you go trying to deny it!" Chloe snaps before Beca can finish stuttering out a half decent excuse. "I couldn't tell from when I was behind you, but now that I can see your eyes, I know you were crying." Beca finds herself faced with steely blue eyes full of resolve, daring her to lie.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Beca says, "Listen Chlo…OK…OK sure. I _was_ , but it isn't a big deal." Unfortunately, Chloe isn't at all willing to accept Beca's desire to shrug off whatever emotions she was feelings that led to her state.

"Beca, every time you cry is a big deal!" Beca scoffs in response.

"Um, need I remind you of the _Bambi_ incident mam," she says waggling a finger at Chloe who gasps in disbelief.

"Beca! Bambi is totes a big deal!" Chloe says in a tone so serious that Beca can't decide whether to laugh, or stare in awe at how absolutely unreal the woman next to her is. "Anyways don't you go trying to distract me away from the situation," Chloe says causing Beca to groan loudly.

"Dude, there is no _situation_. I just…" Beca trails off and Chloe leans towards her in response. As if their closer proximity would allow her to hear the cause of pain Beca so stubbornly refuses to vocalize.

"You just…?" Chloe dip her head down, trying to gently coax the words out of the brunette. Beca exhales and squeezes her eyes tight, seeking some kind of refuge from Chloe's intense stare. Instead she finds herself back at the campsite, standing before Chloe, _fighting_ with her. She remembers the way Chloe told her to never be afraid of being honest with her after the campfire, and the silent nod she gave her best friend. Beca takes in a deep breath before opening her eyes to meet Chloe's.

"We just...we didn't make it OK?" A huff of an exhale leaves her mouth and her eyes drift downward, trailing one of the colorful patterns of the comforter. Chloe squints her eyes and shakes her head in confusion.

"We didn't make it? Beca what do you mea—." Realization enters Chloe's mind cutting off her question. "Oh….oh..." Beca refuses to look up, afraid of the expression that would match the hurt tone to Chloe's voice, and her fingers begin pulling at a loose thread on the bed. Suddenly she feels a familiar hand on hers, and watches the way she allows Chloe to sneak her fingers in the spaces between her own. "Becs?" Chloe calls out softly, and Beca finally looks up at the sound of her voice. "You know it's OK, right? We all did our best." Chloe gently squeezes the hand she holds, trying to pour as much comfort as she can into the small gesture. She is more than aware of how hard Beca can be on herself when it comes to anything music related. Having spent nights holding her hand in a similar fashion after Beca finds out a piece she made wasn't as well received as she imagined it to be. "This isn't _your_ fault. Besides I know I and the rest of the girls were just happy to be togeth—. "

"No, no, no Chloe. Y-you don't get it," Beca says interrupting her with a shake of her head. Chloe's eyes take on a steely sheen once more.

"No Beca, I do. I know you're blaming yourself for us not being good enough! But we all—"

"There is no _we_ OK!?" Beca finally says, her raised voice causing Chloe to flinch slightly. Beca slips her hand out of Chloe's, and instead grips the bed beneath her. Chloe pulls her hand slowly back to her own lap, not understanding what her friend is telling her.

"What do you mean there is no we?" Her voice is soft, and instantly Beca feels guilty for just shouting at her.

"I mean…just… _we_ didn't make it...," Beca says, voice more of a low mumble than anything by the end. " _I_ did," she says, and the admission widens Chloe's eyes and parts her mouth in shock. Beca continues, "Yeah, _me_. Just me. Stupid Theo and DJ Billy—Khaled, _whateve_ r, think that I should just _abandon_ you guys for some stupid label signing. How could they think that? Who do they even—OH!" Beca shouts as she suddenly feels Chloe's warm body pushed into hers, arms circled around her shoulders, and a curly strand of red hair poking her in the eye. "Dude, can you for once in your life just give me a warning before invading all of my personal space!?" Beca says breathing in a hefty scent of Chloe's sweet perfume.

"We both know if I did that, you'd run," Choe says into Beca's neck, her warm breath sending a tiny shiver down the spine of the girl she has wrapped herself around. Beca swallows and blows out a breath trying to push the feeling down.

"Well could you blame—woah!" Beca exclaims in response to Chloe gripping her shoulders and pushing her back, till she is directly facing Chloe at an arms distance. Beca is about to complain about being tired of people thinking they can manhandle her just because of her size, but the expression on Chloe's face stops her. She stares at the way Chloe bites down her trembling bottom lip and how her eyes glisten with unshed tears. A frown stretches across Beca's face. "Oh no. Chloe please don't. I said I'm not taking the lame offer." A short laugh of disbelief escapes Chloe's mouth, along with the first slow stream of a tear.

Shaking her head she says, "Becs…I'm crying, because I'm happy." Her mouth upturns in a smile and Beca looks at her with her in slight confusion.

"You're happy? Because I turned it down…right?"

"What? No, no! I'm happy because," Chloe grip tightens around Beca's shoulders, "because you're _amazing_." Beca stares in wonder at the way the woman in front of her is able to say those words as if they were universal fact. To Chloe, Beca is amazing in the same way the sun is aflame and rises every morning. There is no uncertainty Chloe holds about the amazingness of the girl before her. The only time she second guessed Beca was as the girl walked away from her at the activities fair years ago. Their duet in the shower quickly proved to Chloe that the feeling that pulled at her heart the moment she first laid her eyes on Beca years ago wasn't a fluke. Chloe _always_ knew Beca was special, and now… "And now you're getting truly recognized for that." Beca spends a second lost in the pure adoration radiating off of Chloe eyes, before reaching up to pull off the two hands on her shoulders. Chloe's smile falters as Beca releases her hands. Without shoulders to grip on she falls slightly back away from Beca, watching her throw her hands up in a frustrated gesture.

" _You guys_ have already recognized my talents…or whatever! You guys are the reason behind why I've gotten as far as I have. Chloe, _you're_ the reason I'm here right now. And I'm not gonna just—I _can't_ just, _leave_ the Bella's behind," Beca finishes sounding emotionally drained from the harshness of her breaths.

"Beca, you aren't leaving us behind by taking that deal," Chloe says trying to assure her friend. "More than anything we just want you to be happy." Beca stares at her in disbelief.

"Really dude? Just a few weeks ago you were in a bar crying and saying how you'd do _anything_ to sing together again," Chloe flinches a bit, remembering how low she felt that night. "There is no togetherness in a _solo_ performance Chlo. The last thing I want is you guys sitting in some audience watching me the way we watched the _New_ Bella's. I'm not…I'm not doing that to you Chlo." Chloe stares at the woman in front of her, trying her hardest to take in the care she feels pouring off Beca in waves. She knows that Beca comes across as cold and unapproachable to many people, but Chloe knows her aura of dark, gloomy sarcasm only runs so deep. Chloe understands the way Beca's heart built up walls to defend itself from all the pain she faced as a child. However, when you are one of the lucky few who find themselves on the other side of those walls, like the Bella's and Chloe have, you find yourself met with a heart far bigger than most. She knows Beca doesn't want to hurt her or any of the girls, and she is so appreciative of the woman before her, but she also knows she's so _wrong_.

"Listen I already told them no, so we should just—."

"You know," Chloe cuts her friend off, "I spoke with Chicago a few days ago." Beca tries her hardest to not grimace at the sudden mention of the man's name. "He helped me realize something. I mean maybe not realize exactly, more like…remember."

For a moment Chloe's eyes lose focus, placing herself back in the hotel lobby just days ago. The girls are spread throughout the expensive looking room. Jessica and Ashley attached at the hips and pointing to something outside the tall windows in awe. Cynthia Rose and Aubrey are leaned up against a wall laughing. Closest to her, Fat Amy, Flo, and Beca are huddled together for a silly picture. Beca is smiling through the cookie Fat Amy just put in her mouth, while Flo giggles at the act. Chloe looks on, smiling through watery vision, her heart brimming with the love she feels towards each and every one of these women. Then she is back in the present, heart still spilling over with love, but towards the one women before her. "I remembered that no matter what, we will _always_ be family Becs."

"But—"

"No! There is no but Beca. It doesn't matter what we do, nothing could ever tear us apart! I mean…" Chloe trails off quickly reaching for her phone in her pants pocket. She unlocks her phone and opens up the Bella's group chat. "Look!" Chloe exclaims and Beca finds herself facing the lit-up screen of Chloe's phone. Seeing the picture of a smiling Stacie with baby Bella for the second time. "Stacie isn't even here. She is a mother now, with a whole list of new priorities, but don't you still feel it Beca? The connection we have to her, the connection that we've all held on to since leaving college?" Beca feel her eyes widen at Chloe's words as she stares at Stacie's smile, baby Bella's perfect skin, the words of love trailing after the picture in the chat. The letters suddenly look a little muddled and Beca know her eyes are watering up, knows that Chloe can almost certainly tell. She watches Chloe put the phone down next to her.

"I love performing with the Bella's Beca, I do, but more than anything I just…I just love you all," Chloe says as a few tears spill down her face, she swipes a few away with her hand. "We are a family, and all I want is for my family to be happy," she says as Beca feels a tear escape her eye. "Also…I know how much you hated your job," she tells Beca as she breathes out a giggle. Beca responds with a small chuckle of her own, smilingly helplessly at Chloe.

"Yeah I really hated that fucking job huh?" Beca says and the two spend a moment staring into each other's teary eyes, before laughter spills out of both of their mouths. "Oh God...I can't believe I've done a year's worth of crying in less than an hour," she groans while rubbing at her eyes with her sleeve. Chloe just smiles endearingly at her friend's typical sarcastic attitude, before reaching to take the hands in front of her again. Beca lets them be taken, finding solace in the way Chloe's fingers intertwine with her own.

"So, you'll do it right?" Chloe asks, worrying her bottom lip in fear that Beca might still be afraid. Beca lets out a long sigh.

"I mean…I guess—GOD!" And then Beca finds herself once again with an armful of Chloe Beale, this time squealing next to her ear in a pitch Beca isn't entirely sure she should still be able to make since getting nodes. "Jesus dude! We really need to develop some type of warning system between us." Chloe just seems to squeeze her tighter in response. "And I mean I want to talk to the rest of the girls first, just to be sure."

"Sounds aca-amazing," Chloe whispers in her ear and Beca is stuck between wanting to roll her eyes at how absolutely nerdy that sounded and groaning at what the breath in her ear just made her feel. Then Chloe releases Beca, but doesn't retreat too far from the brunette. "So…" Chloe begins in a voice dripping so heavily of innocence that Beca knows she is planning something that is the complete opposite. Chloe tilts her head away from Beca, her eyes landing upon on an item in the corner. Beca follows Chloe's gaze.

 _"Oh no."_ Upon realization of where Chloe was looking, Beca lets out an overdramatic agonized groan. "Absolutely not," she says adamantly.

"Please! Just sing it for me!" Chloe pouts in Beca's direction with the biggest puppy eyes she can muster. Beca feels her will crumbling beneath Chloe's adorable expression.

"Chlooooo," she begs.

"You were doing it before. Just pretend I'm not here!" Beca scoffs at the idea, as if she could ever just forget about Chloe's existence in a room.

"No!" She manages to force out, clinging to the scraps of will left within her.

"Why not?" Chloe asks, somehow managing to pout even more.

"I just! I don't….I…."Beca trails off, eyes landing on the cup on the floor, then back to meet Chloe's. She stares into the same big blue eyes that drew her in that day, the ones that changed Beca's life completely. Chloe's eyes are staring at her with such a sharp intensity, but the way they tug at her heart is the gentlest Beca's ever felt. She thinks of the way she held the cup in her hands earlier, thinking of Chloe, feeling at home.

Beca sighs, then reaches out, softly taking Chloe's hands in her own. "I got my ticket for the long way 'round," Beca sings quietly as Chloe's soft gasp hits her ears. "Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way," she continues in a soft voice. Her eyes never leaving Chloe's as she goes on, "And I sure would like some sweet company. And I'm leaving tomorrow, wha-do-ya-say?"

"When I'm gone," Beca smiles as Chloe sings out the lyric alone, then joins back in for the next.

"When I'm gone," they both sing in harmony, with hands still clasped between them. "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair. You're gonna miss me everywhere. Oh, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone." They finish together, both smiling at each other, Chloe's own smile similar to the same one she gave Beca that day at auditions, total adoration.

"Thank you Beca," Chloe says with genuine gratitude. Her heart is soaring from the moment she just shared with the woman in front of her, but something about her thanks rubs Beca the wrong way. _"Why is she thanking me?"_ Beca thinks to herself.

"Chloe you know that you're…" She falters, squeezing the hands held by her own, trying to gather as much strength as she can from them. "You know that you're the _bes_ t thing to ever happen to me, right?" Chloe just stares at her, lips parted in shock. Beca swallows, listening to her heart pounding in her ears, while waves of regret begin rolling throughout her body. Then Chloe is smiling, and the waves slow to a stop.

"Oh Beca," Chloe breathes out, pulling both their hands up so they're resting on her chest. Beca can feel Chloe's heart beating beneath her palms, and while the sensation sends something nerve-racking through her body, it also sends strength. She uses that strength to get the rest of her thoughts out of her.

"I-I mean it! Like, if you weren't there that day! And if you hadn't barged into my shower, as absolutely insane as that was, I would've never met the Bella's. I would totally be depressed and alone somewhere in LA right now." Chloe squeezes Beca's hands against her chest.

"I would've found you eventually," she says with complete confidence, unable to believe there could be a universe that exists where she doesn't know Beca Mitchell. Beca smiles softly at Chloe's assertion.

"I hope so," she responds, and she catches the way Chloe's eyes flicker down her face, then back up again. Beca can feel a rhythmic pulse throughout her body, but she isn't sure if it is coming from her own heart or the one beneath her hands anymore. Beca's own eyes flicker down to Chloe's lips, feeling herself pulled in by the pinkness of them, feeling that gentle tug at her heart. Her eyes land on Chloe's once more, something swimming in the woman's bright iris's.

Is it nervousness?

The two are so close. The air between them is heavy and buzzing. Beca watches Chloe slowly lean towards her.

Perhaps anticipation?

Chloe is so close, still clinging to Beca's hands as if her heart would stop beating without them. Beca can feel Chloe's breath hit her face. She peers into the pupils of the eyes in front of her. They're the darkest she's ever seen them. Her own eyes begin to flutter shut.

Desire?

 _"God this woman will be the end of me,"_ Beca thinks to herself before Chloe's lips press softly against hers. There is a part of Beca, the part of her that put up her walls and pushed people away, that is telling her to run. Telling her to stop before she gets hurt, gets her heart torn apart by the people she loves _again_. Maybe a few years ago she would've listened to that voice, but Beca is different now. Beca met Chloe, and she is the best thing to ever happen to her. So Beca ignores that voice and presses further into Chloe, lips upturning into a smile. She focuses on the way Chloe's lips are moving slowly against hers, her sweet scent, and the shared pulse between them. Beca would be more than OK with ending this way.

She doesn't, but the kiss does. Chloe pulls back slowly, eyes spending a few extra moments locked on to the lips she just kissed. Chloe smiles and Beca blushes beneath the intensity of Chloe's stare, but returns a smile of her own. "Chlo…that was…" Beca begins before a thought pops into her mind. Chloe's brow furrows at the concern that takes over Beca's features. Beca takes back her hands, causing a frown to form on her best friend's face. The brunette casts her eyes downwards, only making Chloe worry more. Was Beca having regrets?

"Uh…what about….Chicago?" Beca asks, wondering about the guy Chloe's been blatantly flirting with this entire trip. Realization slowly washes over Chloe, smoothing the worry out of her brows.

"I'm not _into_ him Beca. He's just cute," Chloe explains and Beca exhales as a wave of relief washes over her.

"Oh," she says, looking back up at Chloe to find her carrying her own expression of concern. "What's wrong?"

"What about Theo?" Chloe asks, worrying her lip over Beca's possible response. The response Beca has however, is to burst out laughing at Chloe's question.

"Theo!? Dude, no. He looks like a fucking turtle!" Beca exclaims with a smile. The worry drains from Chloe's face and then she's smiling again too.

"You know he kind of does look like a turtle," she says in agreement, smiling and giggling at Beca's comparison. Smiling, because Beca isn't interested in Theo, smiling because she just _kissed_ Beca Mitchell, smiling because the best thing to ever happen to her too, is right by her side.

"I know! It is kind of weir—Mm!" She finds herself once again cut off by Chloe, as the red head throws her arms back around Beca, fitting herself over Beca's lap, and pressing their lips back together. Sure, Beca could come up with a dozen snarky comments about the amount of times she has had her boundaries aggressively crossed today, but she doesn't. Instead she presses further into the lips against her own, wrapping her arms around Chloe, and pulling her in even closer. Chloe is the best thing to ever happen to her. She can cross all the lines she wants, Beca will always let her in.

Chloe pulls back slowly again, staring lovingly into Beca's eyes and finding the same intense affection mirrored in them. Her arms are wrapped around Beca as a smirk begins tugging at her lips. "I still can't believe I got you to sing my Lady Jam 2.0."

"Y-your _what_!?" Beca sputters out, as Chloe hops off Beca's lap running to the room's bathroom, leaving a trail of giggles behind her. Beca can do nothing but stare with her mouth agape from her bed, heat rising to her cheeks.

"Oh, _you_ heard me," Chloe says, turning back to send a wink in her direction, before disappearing into the bathroom.

With burning cheeks, Beca gets off the bed, and bends to pick up the plastic cup in the corner of the room. She holds the cup in her hands and turns to look at the closed bathroom door, behind which Beca _swears_ she can hear Chloe humming _Titanium_. With a small shake of her head Beca falls back against her bed. She lets herself sink into the mattress, holding on to the cup with one hand. Her lips stretch into a lazy smirk.

 _"Yup. Totally gonna be the end of me."  
_

* * *

Authors Note: _This was originally going to be a short drabble. I'm kind of just mad that the cups song wasn't in the 3rd movie (along with bechloe not being canon). Like HOW could they not put it in there? Anyways...this ended up a lot longer than planned, and way more emotional. I think the girls have their own rooms in the movie, but...I don't care :)._


End file.
